Pilot Project Builds Women-Owned Cassava Processing Plant

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNIFEM, UNESCO and the World Bank partnered with the Liberian government in 2007 to stimulate the production of cassava through the Ganta Concern Women's Group in Liberia. The Ganta Concern Women's Group built the first women-owned cassava processing plant and developed 10 community farms to grow cassava, with a plan to sell in the local market and beyond.

Each day women walk several kilometres from their farms to the market in town carrying the sacks on their heads, where they are sold for around US$7. Sacks of cassava can weigh up to 30 kilos.